Vocab Sheet , thank you to everyone who has been helping with this.
We also have an arts sheet if you’re struggling with the in-game version. I added a characters tab, so far all that’s there is name, age, occupation, but feel free to add any notes you think are relevant or you might want to remember.
Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.
Discussion Guidelines
Everybody should feel free to post and ask questions–it’s what makes book clubs fun! But please do not post until you are familiar with Spoiler Courtesy!
Spoiler Courtesy
Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.
Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
Instructions for Spoiler Tags
Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).
Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:
Example
This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.
The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.
This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.
Posting Advice
When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.
Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!
If necessary, include an explanation of any discrepancies in the Ebook page numbers from physical page numbers. If there is an easy shortcut for some ebook versions to relate back to physical page numbers, it would be worth it to include it as a third bullet here, or if you want to use chapter page numbers instead of volume page numbers, as is the case with some manga. For example:
Example
For the Kindle version of this manga, the page numbers and the location number are always 3 apart. If you subtract 3 from the location, this will give you the accurate page number!
OR
Please use the chapter page numbers, instead of the volume page numbers. These are located in between the panels!
Discussion Questions
What sentence/passage gave you the most difficulty? Feel free to request some help, or if you figured it out on your own break it down for the rest of us!
What was your favorite new vocab word from this week’s reading?
Was there any passage that you found particularly intriguing? Did it resonate with you (either positively or negatively)? Was it surprising? Offer any insight or new perspective? Was it just beautifully written?
What do you think of the characters’ thought processes on what happened?
Were you expecting Kloe to become an official party member?
Do you think Agate was justified in taking over the arson case?
Participation
Will you be playing along with us this week?
I’m playing along
I have finished this part
I’m still playing the game but I haven’t reached this part yet
I’m playing this game after the club has finished
I’m no longer playing the game
0voters
If you’ve already played this game but are still going to join the discussion, please select “I have finished this part.”
Don’t forget to set this thread to Watching in order to stay abreast of discussion!
I also don’t need a break, but won’t mind taking one at all if someone else wants it. That includes you RebBlue, even if you just want a break from posting these discussion threads
Also don’t need a break, and I guess everyone is voting don’t need, but if you want the chance to not manage the club for a week or two and catch up a little, I’d absolutely support that too.
Oh that’s so good, good reminder I need to be engaging with that system more…
Spoilers
They had me jumping at every person right now. The mayor’s assistant brings up the dock guys as potential suspects and I’m thinking “oh, you wanted to frame them so they stop bugging the mayor!” Then the mayor offers to let her move into his place and I start thinking about why he would concoct this scheme to move her and the children there. Maybe this was just the world’s most elaborate and evil plan to get a maid . Hearing about the possible connection to whatever Agate is up to makes me think it’s not either of them and it’s something more convoluted that our characters are not able to see any glimpse of yet… but who knows.
I didn’t really expect our new party member but probably should have. The fact she was using real magic to help us was the clue right there that she wasn’t just a random civilian! I’m happy to have her anyway, and especially excited to see Joshua and Estelle in the 芝居. That’s definitely gonna be amusing. I didn’t play on yet past the stopping point, but I guess along with the side quests I’ll have to make time for the tower too.
Harbor warehouse fight went ok on my end, cleared them out, but they focused down Estelle turning her to stone with their first hit then killing her in like 2 more. The other two party members were unscathed. Shame she missed out on XP by being downed. Shout out to good use of limited animation this week - lifting the child up, and Agate punching people across the room.
Something I think I really appreciate about this game so far is how our party… kind of sucks? Ok that’s going too far haha, but in most JRPGs I think it’s fair to say if someone is opposing what the party wants to do we’re meant to totally be on the side of the characters we play as; obstacles are either mistaken or malicious, etc. But here it’s pretty committed to the fact that they are still learning. I pretty much think Agate is right, even before getting into the connections we are kept in the dark about. Bracers would probably not officially support letting a random girl we met join in our fight, and last time we added a non-bracer because he really wanted to join and was persistent the guy was literally some type of spy. They kinda mess up a lot, and I’m here for that.
Random thought I didn’t say before, but I feel like the orphanage burning and the attack on the border guard station with the dogs must be connected. Couldn’t begin to tell you why, but I bet it’s the same person(s) responsible.
I think the unknown silver-haired guy is the biggest suspect, or perhaps tricked by the wirepuller’s scheme. It seems to set up so that rescuers get the credit, while rescuers are the real culprit.
That doesn’t mean dock people aren’t related. But there isn’t no direct evidence until Gilbert mentioned. (Only motives. More possibly mistaken.)
Possibly wolves at the gate is related, by total speculation… (of the small world of JRPG.)
Agate shouldn’t be bad here.
Olivier seems like a mysterious guy with his own life, rather than just a pure spy.
Joshua seems to know all the bad guys. What’s wrong with his past before being rescued and becoming a stepchild of Caussis.
The new member is so low level. Maybe I leveled up Joshua and Estelle too much.
Agathe: “You get too emotionally involved in these cases, it impairs your judgement.”
Estelle: “But we promised the orphanage lady and the kids!”
Wow yeah, you really showed him, Estelle!
Agathe is literally the only adult in the room.
Also nice of Croze to come out as a fighter before the fight against these relatively harmless bandits and not while I was getting gangbanged by various enemies until now. At least now I know who gets that sword I found in the tower.
It’s pretty obvious that the bandits didn’t start the fire, and the mayor’s assistant is mighty sus for proposing it out of the blue.
I wonder if there will be repercussions to us commandeering the baron’s boat.
